This invention relates to an agricultural planting machine, and more particularly to an improved scraping device for removing soil and other material that might build up on the periphery of a gauge wheel that controls the depth of planting for the machine.
In an agricultural planting machine such as a grain drill, the machine includes a number of closely spaced row units respectively adapted to plant a row of seeds as the machine advances, each row unit including a device for opening a furrow into which seed is delivered. In such machines, it is well known to provide a press wheel behind each furrow opening device and behind the location where the seed is deposited in the furrow to press soil around the seed in the furrow. A mechanism of the above general type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,681, which is also assigned to the assignee herein. It is also known to have the press wheel also function as a gauge wheel that controls the depth of penetration of the furrow opening device, and it is also known to provide for an adjustment so that the position of the gauge wheel relative to the furrow opening device can be varied to vary the depth that the seed is planted, such an adjustable gauge wheel being shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,942, which is also assigned to the assignee herein.
One of the problems associated with such devices is that in certain field and soil conditions, mud and crop residue can build up on the periphery of the gauge wheel, which of course increases the effective diameter of the wheel. The change in effective diameter of the gauge wheel then affects the operating depth of the furrow opening device and therefor can result in a furrow that is too shallow.
To prevent such a build up, it is known to provide a scraping device adjacent the periphery of the gauge wheel to clean the material from the wheel as it rotates. However, such devices heretofore have comprised some type of rigid blade, which have not been satisfactory in that after material builds up on the wheel the blade tends to act as a brake for the wheel, so that the wheel stops turning and drags along the ground rather than rolling as it should. This, of course, affects the proper placement of the seed.